Seagate Barracuda vs Barracuda Pro vs WD Black Edition Comparison

Here in our blog, we have discussed many times, how Western Digital and Seagate are single-handedly dominating the market when it comes to (mechanical) storage solutions. It is a duopoly in the segment. People always compare their products, trying to figure it out which is best suited for them. However, it is not that simple. In some aspects, the former one is best, in others, the latter. Today, we have come up with an excellent addition to your knowledge base about these storage solutions. In this article, we would be doing a Barracuda Pro vs WD Black Edition specifications comparison. So, read along to know more.

Barracuda Pro vs WD Black Edition

In particular, we are going to discuss three storage solution products today. All of them are in the internal 3.5″ Internal Desktop Hard Disk Drives category. They are as follows:

We will begin by comparing the specifications of these products side by side and then slowly turn the discussion towards comparing them in every aspect possible. It will help you figure out which products suit your requirements the best. Without any further delay, let us begin the discussion already.

At a glance: Barracuda vs Barracuda Pro vs WD Black Edition:

Following table compares the barracuda, barracuda pro, and Western Digital back edition hard disk drive side by side, comprising of all important specifications. Have a look below:

Let us reassess the table above. Note that here; I will be only reassessing their major differences in performance and other technical aspects. Here we go:

1. Capacity:

Firstly as you can see, there are more capacity options available from Seagate Barracuda (Laptops) and Barracuda Pro (Desktops). Where, WD black edition comes with limited desktop offerings consisting of 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB, 6 TB and a 500 GB drive. The interface and the form factor are mostly the same for all of them. Also, from the raw specifications point of view, Seagate is a clear winner. Your application can take advantage of the extra storage capacity. However, WD black is still a great choice if your use is limited since it is a little cost effective. In fact, it would save you $50 – $70 based on the capacity selection. Isn’t that great?

2. Buffer Size:

Buffer size or buffer cache is an important factor that affects the speed of your operations. It is an embedded (NAND) memory that the hard disk uses as local memory before hardening onto the disks. The higher the buffer cache, the faster your hard disk will perform under certain load factors. On the other hand, SSDs can go up to a capacity of 1 GB, but unlike HDDs, the data rate is much higher. Here the (Seagate) Barracuda and WD Black Edition come with 128 MB of cache, where Barracuda Pro comes with a class leading 256 MB. Barracuda pro is a clear winner here, but if you want me to rank them based on its buffer cache it goes as below:

Barracuda Pro (3.5″)

WD black (3.5″)

Barracuda (2.5″)

Why is WD black above the Barracuda you ask? While they have same buffer cache? It is because Barracuda’s internal data rate is a notch lower over WD’s Black Edition.

3. Performance and Speed:

Drive transfer rate varies from 140 MB/s – 250 Mbps for all three drives, but the spindle speed stays at 7200 RPM. Load unloads cycles is similar as well which is quite impressive since Barracuda costs you more than its WD counterparts. Where these disks differ is the internal drive rate. Barracuda and barracuda pro deliver 210 and 220 MB/s respectively, where WD black has only 168 MB/s internal drive rate and goes up to 227 Mbps for the 6 GB model. Here also, Barracuda pro is a winner where WD is in the second rank. Barracuda is at the bottom since the seek latency is almost double compared to Barracuda Pro and WD.

4. Additional Features / technology:

Don’t get tricked as the Barracuda Pro shows a long list of features. Just because they list out general features that are usually present in most of the hard disks doesn’t mean they are exceptionally great.

Anyways, both barracuda and barracuda pro feature SMART compliant with Seagate’s signature native command queuing (NCQ) technology. WD Black is RoHS compliant and has several Enterprise features. It comes with Stable Trac technology for better seek times and better protection from system-induced vibrations. Regarding functions, we cannot directly compare them since they have their fallbacks and advantages. We will leave it up to you based on your need and budget.

5. Support and Service:

There are never any hard complaints against any of the manufacture we are discussing here. Both Seagate and Barracuda are known for their excellent relationships with their consumers. Talking about the above products, barracuda comes with two years of limited warranty where barracuda pro and Western digital Black edition offer five years of limited warranty. However, when purchasing barracuda, you can also buy data recovery plan for two / three years in return for some extra cash, so warranty period is the last thing to worry about. Other than that, their tech support team is quickly reachable and helpful enough and pretty reliable.

Buy Seagate Barracuda (Up to 5 GB)

It is ideal for thin and light laptops, and smaller form factor builds. With a low startup, current configurations for 3TB to 5TB drives enable use in legacy low-current PC’s like USB-2 external boxes, while simultaneously lowering power loss. Fast data rates of up to 140MB/s enable superior PC end-user experience and snappier file transfers.

Buy Seagate Barracuda Pro (Up to 12 GB)

Up to 12 TB means you get the highest storage capacity available in the 3.5-inch PC class. Comes with a 5-year limited warranty and 300 TB/year workload limit say this drive has your back. Bundled with Seagate® Rescue Data Recovery, this disc is protected for two years against any mechanical, accidental or natural disaster—with a 90% success rate for in-house recovery.

Western Digital Black Edition

The WD Black edition is suitable for creative professionals, gamers, and home-based storage systems. The drive comes with high reliability and 128 MB of cache for better performance than its predecessors.

Conclusion:

All of these three hard disks come with their advantages and limitations. It will be up to you to choose the right product matching up with your requirements. For example, if your use is limited with home usage workloads and causal gaming performance, WD black is the best option for you. If you require massive storage, small form factor builds with regular performance; you can go for Seagate Barracuda. And if your application requires a lot of storage capacity paired with impressive performance, you would want to go with the Seagate Barracuda Pro. However, it is also going to cost you some additional money.

We hope this Barracuda Pro vs WD Black Edition comparison was helpful for you to determine what is the best product for your requirement. In upcoming posts, we will come up with more storage articles to add to your knowledge. See you until then!

Disclosure: We are a professional review website that sometimes receive compensation or free units from the companies whose products we review. We test each product thoroughly and give high marks to only the very best. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own.